Delirium
by Fidget
Summary: 'If the environment is sufficiently stressful, even people with a high personal threshold for stress will develop some indicators of mental illness.' An explanation of chapter three... ;)
1. Preludes to Breakdown

**A/N:** Before you even start, I'd just like to say that there is a striking resemblance in the beginning to the movie "Girl, Interrupted." I didn't even realize it until after I'd written it. Could possibly have something to do with listening to the original soundtrack 98% of the time I was writing it. Besides which, it's in the deleted scenes, so if you didn't look at those or didn't get the DVD...cool.   
  


* * *

  
  


The linoleum was cold. The little grooves that gave it traction and an interesting appearance had grime gathering in them despite the recent mop job. There was a bit of cereal under her right foot.

Dot Matrix knew these things because she was seated ungracefully on the floor of the kitchen. She clutched at her left wrist with the opposite hand, staring at it without understanding.

A little thread of bright energy ran down from between her tightly clasped fingers.

Cautiously, she raised herself up to peek over the edge of the counter and see if he was still there. Nothing. He had gone. With a sigh, she slumped back against the cupboards. Already she heard pounding footsteps responding to her screams and Bob's voice calling out to determine her location, but instead of replying she watched the stream of energy travel down her forearm and drip once off her bent elbow. It made a faint 'splat' as it hit the linoleum...

* * *

Dot rubbed her eyes with her fingertips. She hadn't been able to focus on anything lately. They had gotten Megabyte out of the Principal Office, but that didn't get him out of the picture by a long shot. He was still a force to be reckoned with.

And she had to do the reckoning.

It never ended. Everything constantly fell on _her_ shoulders. It was her fault it did, too. If she had sat back and waited for someone else to take control instead of _being_ that someone else, she would be just another citizen of Mainframe, free of any major responsibility.

Wrong. As much as she hated to admit it, she was the only one really capable of running the system. If she had just let it be led by another, it would have fallen to Megabyte long ago. But instead, she had risen to the occasion and fought. Had won.

Would she win now?

With sigh and a shake of her head to try and clear it, she grabbed a few files and headed home. It was too late to be contemplating things like this. She checked her watch quickly and noticed that it was far earlier than she had expected. As much as two cycles earlier. She just hadn't been getting enough sleep. With sleep would come restoration and full functionality.

She arrived home to find Bob talking to Enzo. Actually, vice-versa. Bob sprawled out on the couch while her younger brother hopped energetically from one side of the room to the other, yammering about one topic or another with enthusiasm. She smiled at her little brother and sat down next to Bob, who kissed her forehead lightly. Enzo paused his explosive account of the day to make a face and gag himself.

"You guys are gross." He informed the couple, but his eyes darted to the door to his room and he sped off, all thoughts of romance forgotten. Bob turned his gaze back to Dot. "So. How were you today?"

She laid her head on his shoulder with a deep sigh. "You should know," she remarked. "You visited me twice today. _Twice_, Bob."

He shrugged unapologetically. "Well, I'm a pathetic and insecure individual who needs constant reassurance that someone still loves him."

She winced mentally. She knew he was joking around and that the way it sounded to her was not the way it had been meant. An innocent comment that struck her strained nerves as painful. She tucked her head more securely into his shoulder and forced a laugh.

Bob noticed her questionably genuine tone and gave her a concerned look. "You okay?"

She was like a Read-me to that Guardian. Crash him. "Just tired, is all."

He scowled at her and leaned in close to her face. "You need to go to bed." He stated simply. She groaned and fell over backward on to the cushions.

"But it's only 8. I've got tons of work to finish, and Enzo's got to have his homework checked..." He silenced her with one finger over her lips.

"_I'll_ check his homework. I'll get him to bed on time. Don't worry about it."

Dot cocked an eyebrow. "Do you even know what time he goes to bed?"

Bob's solemn expression shifted to a grin. "Uh...nine?" Dot sighed and threw an arm over her eyes.

"Close enough."

She hoisted herself off of the couch and shuffled to their bedroom. She booted into her pajamas, taking a deep breath and sighing at the comfort. There truly was nothing like the release of loose pajamas. Crawling under the covers, she realized she was glad that Bob had sent her off to sleep. She had been working hard lately, and downtime was what she needed.

* * *

Dot turned over in bed for what could have been the fifth time or the thousandth. The time on her clock steadfastly refused to click to the next set of numbers and show that any time was actually passing at all. She stared at its green glow, the only thing orienting her to which way she was facing in her room, until her eyes could no longer focus from lack of moisture, then rolled over and closed them again, waiting impatiently for sleep to claim her.

Nothing. With an exasperated sigh, she sat up quickly on the bed with the thought of going to the kitchen for water or warm milk or something.

The room tumbled suddenly. She closed her eyes as the brightly lit digits of her alarm clock turned into a blur of motion. As the floor and all her surroundings tilted, she lost her grip on the corner of the bed and tipped over, falling towards the ceiling, clenching her teeth and holding back a cry of fright...

Her eyes snapped open again with a sudden impact. She glanced quickly around, her breath coming in uneven little gasps. She was lying on her stomach on the floor, her knees drawn up, and gravity told her that her clock was in its rightful position on her nightstand.

_Maybe it's good that I'm getting water._ She must be dehydrated. She'd only lost her balance when she sat up so quickly.

Her mind already set on the goal of liquid, she shuffled out the bedroom and towards the bathroom, where she knew she would find a plastic cup and a sink. Since she was already so dizzy without realizing it, the trip to the other end of her flat and the kitchen might be a bad idea. She noticed with mild annoyance that Bob and Enzo were both still up and sitting in the living room with some object keeping their attention._ I told that boy he was supposed to be in bed by nine..._

She closed the bathroom door behind herself. She didn't really want Bob to know _she_ was up, either. He had told her to get some sleep, and she had a feeling he might be more forceful about it if he found her wandering around. With a small smile she imagined him frowning at her, picking her up and stomping back to her room, then tossing her back on the bed and pulling the covers around her. "Now, get some _sleep_." he would say, turn out the light again and shut the door behind himself.

As she thought about this and held her cup under the faucet, there was a knock on the door. She sighed, realizing she had been discovered. "Just a nano."

The knocking persisted urgently and she frowned. "Just a _nano_, please." she said tightly, turning off the water and raising the cup to her lips. But the knocking grew louder, almost as if whoever it was using a hard object instead of their hands. She thought of the dents it would leave and made a decision to send Enzo to bed immediately and give Bob a piece of her mind about letting him stay up. Slamming the cup on to the counter and sloshing water on to her pant leg in the process, she snatched at the handle and jerked the door open violently.

"_I **said** just a-_" she began to yell as she opened the door, but stopped suddenly. Bob and Enzo were both seated in the living room in the same positions. Almost the same, they had turned their heads to stare at her when her outburst had gotten their attention. She stared at them for a moment, then abruptly shut the door again and locked it.

She sat down on the fluffy bathmat in front of the tub and stared at the cupboard silently. There had been no one there. Maybe the knocking had been something the neighbors were doing, hanging a picture or so forth. Maybe whatever object Enzo and Bob had been enraptured by earlier was making an awful noise. Maybe Enzo had pulled a particularly successful prank. These were all logical assumptions.

As logical as losing her balance and falling off the bed.

She tucked up her knees tightly to herself and wriggled her bare toes in the long fur of the mat. Whatever it was, she had a lingering feeling.

There were three knocks on the door.

Her head jerked up and she stared. The fake grain lines and swirls of the door made demonic faces at her, grinning malevolently. She stared in silence, unsure if she had actually heard the sound or...

There were three more knocks and a soft, "Dot?"

Recognizing Bob's voice immediately, she stood up and took two steps to reach the door, then paused. She took a steadying breath, then grasped the handle and opened the door slowly, wrapping the fingers of her other hand deliberately around the side and peeking out. Bob stood very near the opening and leaned down with concern defining his features.

"Are you all right?" he asked quietly. She swallowed as discreetly as she could and nodded. Unsurprisingly, he didn't seem convinced. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head, lifting the last remains of her fright from her face. "I just thought I heard someone, is all." This last was true for as far as it went, at any rate. Bob frowned at her.

"Sleep, Dot." he said sternly. She nodded and he walked her back to the bedroom, pulling the covers up as she had imagined only minutes earlier. Sleep. Sleep was what she needed.

Not water.

Sleep.

She tucked into a secure ball on the side of the bed furthest from the glowing digital numbers and laid her head on her hands. Bob kissed her forehead softly and said, "I'll get Enzo to go to bed. Now you get some rest."

She only nodded again, finding that she was already tired beyond belief, and settled into her pillows.

  


She woke the next morning already feeling tired. She did, after some time, manage to drag herself out of bed and towards the kitchen. Noticing the time on the java machine, she almost did a doubletake.

_9:30?!_

She never slept until nine. However, she must have needed it. She was still dragging her feet. She ambled to the bathroom, giving the woodgrain a sideways glance,_ (why is that so weird this morning?)_ and ripped at her hair with the brush. It wouldn't comb decently, and a longer strand hung down beside her bangs. She threw the brush down angrily and moved on to brush her teeth.

Bob poked his head in and smiled. "Good morning, baby." He said, grinning wider when she scowled at the endearment. He walked in behind her and put his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder. She continued to brush her teeth, not even gracing him with a bubbly mumble. He looked at their reflection, appreciating the picture they made, for a moment longer before asking lightly, "What was up last night?"

Dot leaned down to spit in the sink, then took a mouthful of water from the plastic cup. As she leaned her head back, the cup spilled on to her pantleg. She choked on the mouthful and had to lean down quickly. _They're here again, oh User, now the door's open for them..._

Bob stepped back, giving her a little space until the coughing fits had ceased. She stood up and glared at his reflection.

"_Nothing_ happened. I told you, I just thought I heard someone." She snapped, whisking the lock of stray hair (now dripping) back from her face with an angry gesture. Bob pulled her to him again with a soothing noise.

"I'm sorry. Just curious. I'm not accusing you of anything."

_Yes, he was._ Dot thought, still upset. _He thinks I'm going crazy or something._ She frowned deeper and put her toothbrush away, then stalked towards the door. He watched her stomp away with a confused and hurt expression, and heard the door slam after her.

Dot went to the PO still angry. She wasn't necessarily angrywith Bob, it wasn't really his fault that he was curious. She was angry at _something_. As she arrived to work, Mouse gave her a cheery half-wave, but Dot ignored her and continued to her office. Mouse's hand dropped and mentally she shrugged.

Moments later, Dot set down a cup of recently acquired java on the corner of her desk. _It'll fall down if you set it there, basic._ She moved it inward quickly, rounded the desk, and sat down. The files on her desk were scattered all over, and she stared blankly at them. She couldn't think of anything to do with them. They sat before her, and they could have been written in alien languages and have meant the same to her. At length, she picked the one farthest from her up and squinted at it. Just a report of activity in G-Prime. But if somebody else had already gone to all the trouble of finding out, then they knew. And if they knew, what did it matter if she did? She threw it down again, and the datapad hit three or four others and knocked them off the desk with a clatter. Dot stared again at the pile of work in front of her again, then stood up abruptly.

Mouse looked up when Dot's office door opened again. She watched the green woman walk back out the way she had come, not taking her mug of java. She left without a word, closing the door behind her. Mouse looked at the way she had left a moment longer, then shrugged, going back to work.

Bob started when the door opened. He sat up from his perch on the couch and flipped off the TV. When Dot walked in, he was a little surprised, but stood up to greet her none the less. "Back so soon?"

She looked up and sighed, falling into the hug he offered. He kissed the top of her head and spoke into her hair. "Is there something you'd like to talk about?"

She mumbled into his chest, but the syllable suggested a negative response. He gave her one last squeeze and released her. She dragged herself to the bedroom and flopped on to the mattress. _Poor thing, she's exhausted..._

Dot lay down, her boots still on, and stared at the numbers on her alarm clock. They glowed complacently at her, squared-off. Segmented. _Sometimes they spell out simple words upside-down,_ she thought absently, and began trying to fit the numbers that flicked up into four-letter words.

She knew not how long she stared at those digits. She took no notice of the time they began and ended at. She only noticed the passing of time when her stomach protested its neglect. She sat up and shuffled into the kitchen in hopes of finding something easy to eat. Bob watched her prepare a bowl of chicken soup for herself with a troubled expression. She glanced at him, then back to her soup. "What?"

He resettled himself into the chair. "You don't seem well. It's good that you're home, I think."

She sipped a spoonful of soup. "I'm just tired, is all. Just tired." She explained, not raising her eyes. Bob frowned. She sounded exhausted. And he still believed she was ill. She didn't strike him as the kind of person to admit to sickness so quickly, anyway. He just hoped she would continue to take it easy until the bug passed.

Dot watched him watch her from the corner of her eye. What was he about today, anyway? Every time she saw him, he had some question or prying sort of statement. What did it really matter to him if she was tired or ill?

She lost her appetite soon after and poured the remaining soup down the drain, then tossed the bowl haphazardly on to the counter. She walked over to the couch, falling on to it, and Bob watched her still. A knock sounded through the house.

Dot cringed. _Don't let them see you weak, they'll be stronger..._

Bob got up and answered the door, despite the fact that Dot was closer. She had made no move to get it. He opened the door to see Mouse standing nearly on the threshold. She pushed past him without a greeting the moment the door was open far enough. Bob wondered to himself if it was possible that "that time of the minute" had lined up between the two females.

Mouse strode over to the green woman, who was curled into herself on the sofa. "You feelin' okay, sugah? Left the PO in a quick way."

Dot was dimly aware of someone in front of her, but ignored them. There was someone talking nearby. She narrowed her eyes and stayed very still to lessen the input of anything besides auditory, trying to discern where they could be. She couldn't understand the words, they were too far away, but she heard syllables. Someone was speaking.

Mouse frowned as Dot ignored her, squinting past her and apparently at the far wall. Now it was obvious something was wrong. Thanking the User she had come and seen how her friend was doing, she knelt down by Dot and waved a hand near her face. The green woman blinked and focused her eyes on Mouse's face. "Dot, honey? I think you need sleep or somethin'. You're sure not right today."

"I feel fine." Dot argued, sitting up. Her energy had not returned to her, but her lethargy seemed to attract undue attention from her lover and her friend. When her head tipped forward and her chin rested on her chest, Mouse pursed her lips. "I'm just gonna steal him fer a nano..." She explained as she snagged Bob's arm and pulled him out of the room.

She swung him around the hall corner and put her hands on his shoulders. "Now ya've got to know there's somethin' funny going on."

Bob nodded but kept his eyes on the floor. "I mean, it's not like she has no right to be tired," he paused to almost grin, "But she never admits to it. Usually just keeps going...Maybe that's it," He looked up thoughtfully. "She's just gone until she dropped. Maybe she's got nothing left in her until she gets some rest."

Mouse caught his gaze. "_Please_ take her to see Phong? There's something wrong with her one way or another, and if I see either of ya' again and you haven't at least got her an appointment, you're gonna be the one who hears about it. Clear?"

Bob smiled at Mouse's immediate bristling reaction. "I will. She's lucky to have a friend like you, Mouse."

But the hacker was already leaving, and she waved a hand dismissively. "It's nothin'. Just get her to see Phong. Soon." And she walked off and Bob heard the door shut behind her.

Dot stood in the middle of the room, alone. Mouse had dragged Bob off. They were talking about her. She hated it when people talked about her without her hearing. She almost thought she could hear snatches of conversation.

_You've got to...she never admits...please take her...something wrong with her..._

The words together didn't make sense. It was the underlying message. Distrust and suspicion. She clenched her fists and her nails cut tiny crescents in her palms, but she didn't notice. Mouse and Bob were conspiring over her wellbeing. After everything she'd done and was still doing for the system...

_Of all the ungrateful, secretive-_

She went back in to the kitchen, feeling in the mood for sweets, and began searching the cupboards and drawers. As Mouse walked out from the hall, she waved good-naturedly at Dot. A fake smile, a fake nature...Dot slammed a drawer shut without lifting her gaze to meet the hacker's. Bob followed Mouse out and came around the corner and into the kitchen. He watched her search a moment before asking, "Can I help you find something?"

_No, you can't, conspirator..._ She mumbled a negative reply and continued in her quest for something sweet.

Ah, success. She snatched a bag of chocolate chips, deciding it would do, and meandered over to the couch to sit and munch. Bob watched her.

Dot rose her gaze slowly to Bob, who seemed to be glaring at her suspiciously. After a moment of silent stares between the two, she dropped her head and looked back at the coffee table, munching industriously at her chocolate chips. Suddenly she glanced at him again and regarded him thoughtfully, then said lightly, "No."

_He just wanted something on her...some way to prove there was something wrong with her..._She gave the bag a half-toss on to the coffee table and turned towards him with sparkling eyes. "What's wrong with everyone today?"

Bob blinked once, twice, and tried to comprehend her words. "We're just worried about you." He gave her a pained smile. "You never act like this."

"Well," she said, retrieving the bag for another handful. "There's been a lot of stress on me lately. I'm just tired of it all."

Bob felt that this revelation was something, anyway. If she would tell him that she was having a problem, even if she didn't reveal the details, that meant that she wasn't out-and-out lying. After all, it was obvious there was a problem, whether it was just a funk or something deeper bothering her. He leaned over and gave her a hug around her bent elbow holding the chocolate, then kissed her cheek. "You can come to me with anything you want to say." He said, feeling redundant but wanting to reinforce the main message. She blinked and tilted her head a bit in response.

What was _with_ everybody today?! First Mouse being so nosey, then Bob's insistence that she tell him _something_. She felt fine. She had been tired, but now she was all right. If they were so good at taking note of her stress, why hadn't they done it sooner? It wasn't like today was the first day she had been feeling overwhelmed.

She watched Bob meander aimlessly around the apartment, getting himself water and putting a few objects back into Enzo's room. And he thought _she_ was behaving out of the norm!

_That Guardian...He's the one. Look at all the trouble he causes._

The trouble he prevents, you mean. Without him, the system would fall to wreckage.

You don't think the Command.com wouldn't be able to keep it afloat, then?

There were a few nasty snickers.

Dot stared at the wall behind Bob, her eyes wide. She sat, silently listening to this exchange, feeling her extremities begin to shake a little...

The bag of chocolate chips fell from her lap and hit the floor with a soft _poomph_ sound, scattering tiny confections everywhere. Dot started and dropped the handful she had held, adding another, smaller blast radius to the one on the floor already. For a moment, both parties present stared at the bag. Finally, Bob began to walk over to her purposefully. He knelt and picked up a handful of candies, giving her a worried look.

"I think you should see Phong if...whatever this is keeps up. This isn't like you, Dot. You're acting random."

She glared at him.

_Random...You're acting random...You're random..._

* * *

**A/N:** More later. Have much written already. If you enjoyed it, leave a review and tell me. I'm a tad insecure with the plausibility of it...Course, that's not gonna stop me from keeping on writing on it.


	2. Realizations & Microwave Dinners

**A/N:** This chapter gives a gigantic thanks to all the people who reviewed chapter one so well and boosted my kinda wavery confidence in this story by a lot. You guys are the best! Also to Ryuu and Vix, who put of with mountains of my blabbering and copy/pasting paragraphs into IM windows. They're troopers. _And_ I'm so splendifically happy that it was nominated for the URA that I nearly exploded last weekend on several occasions. Man, everybody just kicks butt. ^-^ Hope this chapter is up to par. 

* * *

Bob rushed around the corner, panic on his face. Awful possibilities flashed through his mind, making him run faster down the hall. At first, when he rounded the corner and scanned the kitchen, he saw nothing and nearly searched elsewhere. As an afterthought, he went around the counter to check, and gasped.

Dot glanced dully up at him from the floor. She looked like a very young child found with their parents' files scattered about them, saying nothing and only watching their discoverer's face. His gaze darted from the counter to the floor and all around her, searching for the cause of her scream, finding nothing but a block of cheese on the counter above her. Wrong, there was the knife she must have been using sitting next to her on the floor. It wasn't until he had assessed the environment that he examined Dot herself better. She was holding one wrist in her other hand very tightly, and a line of energy ran from her closed fingers to her elbow. A few drops on the floor told the quantity that had escaped her. Slowly, recognition dawned in his processor...

* * *

Dot slouched in the large, cupped chair across from Phong. The golden sprite readjusted his glasses and leaned on crossed arms to peer at her. He noted the look of intense thought that dominated her features.

When he cleared his throat, she looked up slowly. "Bob tells me you have been feeling...ill, correct?"

She shook her head. "Not ill. Just tired. And really, really stressed. That's all."

Phong nodded. "And you have not been to work in several seconds. This is unusual for you, my child."

Dot tapped the desk rapidly with the nail of her forefinger, the rhythm alternating every few nanos. Her gaze was locked on the spot it struck. She sighed and nodded, speaking in a dull tone of voice. "I know. I know it is. But I can't _do_ anything while I'm there. I just sit. I can sit at home. I can sit anywhere."

Phong resituated himself. What Bob had actually said hadn't been 'ill'. He had described her as listless and lethargic, as occasionally doing something extremely odd. He mentioned that she had dropped out of her normal behavior, being far less neat than usual.

Phong didn't like the sound of it. He had come to respect his presentiments as things to be considered, and this one was bad. He watched her stop tapping and fall back into the chair again. "Dot, do you feel it is something serious?"

She didn't even flutter an eyelid. The only movement over her entire body was the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed. Abruptly, she snatched a nondescript doo-dad off the far corner of the desk and examined it. She gave half a smile. "Neat," she commented, holding up the gadget. It squeaked at the movement and the gears rotated with miniscule clicks. Phong looked at it thoughtfully. She was not going to like what he had to say.

"Dot," he began hesitantly, then paused until she had replaced the object to its rightful place on the desk. He steepled thin fingers and leaned in closer to her. "My child, it occurs to me that this may be deeper than only a lack of rest or a bit of stress."

Dot's dull expression vanished in a flash. Her head snapped up and she stared at Phong intensely. "Has Mouse been talking to you?" she demanded. Phong cocked his head slightly.

"She did mention that I should see you, yes. Why?"

Dot covered her face with her palms. They had already gotten to Phong. She'd have to find someone, _anyone_, to help her. Quickly.

Bob chose that moment to tentatively open the door and peek in. Phong looked up and nodded, and Bob walked into the room. When he saw Dot, curled into herself in the chair and hiding her face, he looked worried. Carefully, he sat down next to her on the edge of the seat and put a hand on her shoulder. She jerked away. _Nobody to turn to..._

Bob sadly stole his hand away from her again and looked at Phong with a heavy sigh. "She's been like this for seconds. Any idea what-"

Phong held up a finger to pause him. He shifted his gaze to Dot. "My child, why don't you go out into the hall and ask the woman there for a mug of cocoa. I find it soothes nearly anything."

She stood stiffly and walked out, closing the door behind her with the deliberate gentleness of one who wishes to slam it off the hinges. Bob sighed again and looked expectantly at Phong. It occurred to him that he had been sighing a lot lately. "Any idea what's going on with her?" he asked more quietly. Phong's eyebrows knitted together.

"I cannot seem to get any information from her. She is too withdrawn to answer any particularly helpful questions. It worries me."

Bob nodded. "Me, too." He paused a moment before saying suddenly, "Hey, you don't think I'm being too hasty, do you? I mean, it's only been a few seconds. Maybe she's sort of sick or just in a mood..." He trailed off and the room fell silent again. At last, Phong shifted in his seat.

"Her attitude does indicate _something_ of importance, although it is somewhat beyond me. I wish I could do more to help, but...Perhaps, if she does not recover in the next few seconds, you should take her to see...someone else."

Bob knew what he meant. He swallowed hard. The thought was unappealing at best, but...he had to help her if she needed it.

Dot leaned against the door to Phong's office, her eyes wide and alert, her breathing very soft so as to be silent. She listened to what they said. Send her away? Is _that_ what they wanted to do?

She stepped back from the door and pressed herself against the wall, rewrapping her fingers around the mug in her hands. _ The mug..._

At that precise moment, Bob opened the door, emerging into the hallway just in time to see her drop the mug of cocoa as if it were a magnet. He started slightly as the bits of ceramic flew, one hitting the toe of his boot. Then his gaze went to Dot, who was staring in horror at the brown stain the drink had left. Phong, hearing the noise, wheeled around the corner to investigate.

For a moment, not a sprite moved. Then Dot took off around the bend in the hallway. Bob and Phong glanced at each other. "You see what I mean?" The Guardian asked, gesturing to the floor. Phong only went into his office and pushed a button to call for a cleaning drone.

Dot flew down the hall in barely contained panic, ignoring a surprised "Hey!" from the aqua-haired she almost collided with. She turned slightly to hit a swing-door with her shoulder, and burst into the women's bathroom. She jogged down the row of stalls, glancing under the doors to ensure her privacy, and threw herself on to her knees in the one furthest from the door. Her thoughts wild with the idea of poisoning, she didn't even have to use a physical method of forced sickness.

Bob walked slowly down the hall the way she had gone, calling her name softly. As he passed the restrooms, she walked out, shaking slightly. He smiled at her reassuringly and put his arm around her shoulders. She jerked, but didn't pull away, and in this fashion, they left the Principal Office and went home. 

* * *

Things in the Principal Office had been more than hectic for the past few seconds. Nobody had truly realized how much Dot had been doing until she stopped doing it. Mouse was a great help, as she had always been, but there was a limit to the hacker's abilities. She herself came to much the same conclusion as she stared at the ridiculous pile of work on Dot's abandoned desk ("You _basic_ little motherboards!" she had shouted to the secretaries of various offices, coming across them dropping off files yesterday. "If she's not comin' in, puttin' the work on her desk isn't gonna help!"). She picked one up, looked it over, and tried to discern exactly what one would do with these. Categorize them by file type? By content? Or did she have to read, understand and absorb all of this for use against the viral evil? The possibilities seemed endless, and none seemed very inviting. Mouse set the file down carefully and backed way from the desk, as if afraid the little datapads were only waiting for her to turn her back. As she shut the door of Dot's office, she gave an audible sigh of relief.

As Dot continued to ignore her responsibilities, her friends became more and more worried. As Bob had said, it had been only a few seconds, but she seemed very withdrawn.

What worried Bob most was two seconds later, when she made a bizarre refusal.

She had since ceased to cook more than with the microwave, and in order for food to be available Bob had resorted to frozen _anything_. They sat together at the table one evening, a little plastic platter in front of each person, Enzo chattering happily about some kid at school getting a pencil-topper stuck up his nose.

"...And not a small one! It was, like, this big!" He demonstrated with his fingers, indicating something about 2 inches wide. "And he was all, 'Agh! It's stuck!' and then Jenny started screaming and Ms. Brodie was trying to calm everyone down..."

Enzo stuttered to a halt, seeing that no one was even pretending to listen anymore. He directed an insulted glare at Bob, and, noticing the Guardian's gaze was on Dot, he sent a scowl to her for good measure.

But Dot didn't notice them. She stared at her plastic tray with a look of such utter and unmasked disgust that Enzo could have laughed. Bob looked hurt.

"Dot, look, I know it's not exactly gourmet, but we're running short on frozen foods and you _know_ what my cooking ends up like..."

"Uh-uh. It looks funny."

Now, Enzo did laugh. "Ah, come on, Dot! You've gotta eat your vegetables!"

Her head snapped to point at the boy, and Enzo stopped snickering immediately and displayed obedience by taking a forkful of food. Her eyes widened, and with a lightning-fast motion she slapped Enzo's tray away from him. It landed with a great, plastic _smack!_ on the linoleum and sent clumped grains of rice and wrinkled broccoli tumbling across the floor. Enzo could hardly believe his eyes as they surveyed the situation. He turned to Dot, who was glaring angrily at Bob across the table. He looked confused and possibly a little frightened. She stood up, her thighs pushing the table away from her by a couple of inches and making the water glasses sway threateningly.

"You keep that stuff away from my little brother!" she yelled warningly, pointing to the microwaved hash now occupying space on the linoleum. With that, she stalked out of the dinette and into the bathroom, slamming the door. Bob and Enzo exchanged glances.

Dot ran to the furry mat in front of the bathtub, compacting herself into the corner. She drew her knees up to her chest tightly, tucking her chin securely between them and staring at the fuzzy rug. It was obvious what was going on. Everyone stood to gain from her quick disappearance from the scene. If she held the highest office, she was preventing anyone from moving upwards. Nobody would even _miss_ her after all the hell she'd put the system and its inhabitants through. Bob thought she'd be stupid enough to eat whatever was set in front of her. Probably thought her mind was dulling after all the trauma she'd been through. Ha! No way in the web. She was keener now than she thought she ever had been. And they still thought they could poison her without her knowing. Well, she wouldn't have it.

"_Any_ of it!" she yelled aloud, emphasizing her point. She frowned deeper.

The one who's motives confused her was, in all truth, Bob. What did he stand to gain from her downfall? Being a Guardian, he was a position unto himself. Mainframe's politics would neither raise nor lower his status. Even choosing to ignore his supposed feelings for her (easily enough feigned, after all), it still made no sense.

And then it clicked.

_How could I have been so basic?_ she berated herself. There was only one logical answer: It wasn't Bob, it was Megabyte.

She reached her arms around to hug her legs together, her fingers interweaving themselves with her toes. Of course. Of _course_! Megabyte had taken Bob's form again, trying to fool her twice with the same trick. Only this time, she reasoned, he wouldn't have left the original to come back and foul things up.

With a jolt of shock she realized that the real Bob was dead. Megabyte had stolen his code, probably even some of his memories or things like that, then disposed of him. She had a horribly vivid image of the virus flinging Bob's limp form into the energy sea.

_That's ridiculous,_ she thought, cutting the reel of mental film short. _All that's left is an icon when a sprite is deleted._

Unless Bob hadn't been dead when Megabyte had tossed him over Mainframe's edge.

She tucked her chin tighter between her knees as more images flooded her mind.

_ "Well, Guardian, look where your meddling has brought you now."_

Bob held up his hands weakly, turning his face to the side, a last ditch attempt to save his own life. He was purple with bruises and iridescent with smeared energy, his complexion flickering dangerously into transparency. Megabyte stood over him, his claws opened and dripping the same oily liquid as covered Bob's upreaching hands. He smirked nastily.

"Giving up actual defenses? Feeling despaired? Then I've only one more thing to say." He hoisted the broken Guardian into his arms and took a few heavy steps forward, ignoring Bob's feeble protests. His footsteps each echoed with a hollow, metallic clank.

As he reached the edge, he held Bob up by his armpits and leaned in very close to his face, listening to the wheezing, gurgling strain of Bob's breath. "I shall very much enjoy Miss Matrix." He said in a very low tone, and as Bob's eyes opened in distress at Megabyte's statement, he felt himself leaving the support of the virus, his stomach suddenly twisting and leaping into his rib cage as he began to fall...

She giggled convulsively.

Her breath began to come hard, crushing her chest into her knees as her lungs inflated. She closed her eyes tightly, knowing she'd never see him again. Knowing that anything that had happened for cycles between her and Bob had not been Bob at all...Her giggling heightened to a hearty laughter, and she wrapped both arms over her head.

She looked up at the sound footsteps. Here he was now. He looked concerned, and bent over to be eye level with her. The worry reached deep into the brown eyes she knew so well. He was a wonderful actor.

Bob looked at the folded figure in the corner, smiling as if she'd never seen anything so funny as his worried face in all her life. Things were really getting out of hand.

* * *

**A/N:** As always, if you liked it, say so! And if you disliked it, tell me why! If you just hate me because I suck, don't tell me. It hurts my feelings. 


	3. Not Shaving Her Legs

Dot spent the night on the bathroom mat. She was turned decidedly away from the woodgrain on the door, drawing her fingertips over the fiberglass side of the bathtub and feeling the pads catch at the smooth surface, then slide down again. The ecru tile had dark black grout in between each individual piece, a sign that it was time to give the bathroom another deep cleaning. She didn't sleep, she hardly blinked, only stared.

Elsewhere in the house, another sprite was suffering from insomnia. Bob watched the green numbers on the clock flick slowly to a later time, unknowingly mimicking his partner. He was troubled deeply by Dot's actions, and inactions, for the past week. No, more than a week. She had kept it up for at least two. He shifted under the bedclothes for the millionth time, unable to find a spot on the bed that would comfort his troubled mind.

He heard her finger squeak down the side of the bathtub again, hating the sound for reminding him of her position and for jerking his mind to consciousness. He resituated himself with a vengeance, slamming his head back on to the pillow so that the bed bounced. Eventually, his dark thoughts ceased to churn in his brain, and he fell to sleep. There was a quiet squeak from the bathroom.

  


Matrix scowled. AndrAIa took the opportunity to steal a sip of his energy shake. "Don't worry too much, Sparky."

"She doesn't look sick to me." he rumbled. AndrAIa stabbed at the shake with the straw.

"I know. But even Phong says she needs help."

Matrix tensed. "But why does Bob need to bring her to the Super Computer?"

AndrAIa shrugged. "Because there's no one here in Mainframe who can give her the help she needs." She laid a hand on his arm and his muscles loosened. The renegade sulked.

"If she's so sick, how come I never noticed?" He looked away, unable to properly express his feelings. "I'm her brother, after all, and I didn't even-!"

His fists clenched again, and AndrAIa sighed. "We've all been busy against Megabyte. Nobody's had a chance to pay close attention. In retrospect, I suppose she was acting odd, but I just put it off to..." She waved her hand in an 'et cetera' gesture.

"Recent circumstances?" Matrix suggested. She nodded.

"That can't have had a good effect, after all."

Matrix reached for his energy without looking. When it wasn't where he expected, he glanced down to find it in AndrAIa's hand. He cocked an eyebrow, and she handed it over.

  


Bob awoke, his brain seeming to start from precisely where it had left off the night before. He climbed out of bed, rubbing his eyes, and walked towards the bathroom with his eyes practically closed. He knocked lightly with his knuckles. "Dot?"

No answer. He knocked again, more smartly, and spoke louder. "Dot?"

Still, silence. Deciding she must have gone to sleep, he opened the door as quietly as he could.

There she was, curled into a loose fetal position on the bath mat. He felt a tug of emotion in two directions, one saying it was adorable to see her like that and one being alarmed once again at her bizarre behavior. He walked forward, bent over, and rolled her on to her back to pick her up and carry her to bed.

He jumped back with a short sound of shock.

  


AndrAIa and Matrix glanced up as one entity when Mouse entered the diner. She spotted them, waved, and made her way to the table to sit also. Greetings and smiles where exchanged.

"How are things going in the Principle Office?" AndrAIa asked good-naturedly. Mouse heaved a sigh.

"Not good. No one's gettin' anything done. And people are looking to me for all these tactical decisions, as if I have a clue what's going on. I can hack and code and all that, but when it comes to formulating a plan, there's no match for-"

The door of the diner burst open, and a blue figure hurtled through and towards their table.

"Bob!" AndrAIa said, surprised by the Guardian's disheveled apearance. His hair wasn't combed, and he seemed to be wearing tall, Guardian-standard-issue boots over plaid, flannel pants. It would have been amusing if not for the look of panic over his face. He leaned heavily against the table, panting harshly. AndrAIa offered him a sip of Matrix's energy shake, which he declined.

"Guys..." he panted as soon as his breath was under control. "Oh, user...Dot...She's...User..."

His panic was spreading. The three sprites to which he was trying to convey this message were standing up and clamoring for a clearer statement. Bob looked up, at last able to breathe without gasping, and the look in his brown eyes made you fear the worst.

"I never thought she'd do it." he whispered. Three sprites stared at him and tried to discern whether or not he meant what each was thinking.

"You don't mean..."

As much as he tried, Bob couldn't get that last image out of his head.

_He walked forward, bent over, and rolled her on to her back to pick her up and carry her to bed. Then he jumped backwards with a short sound of shock. He curled body hid a puddle of energy that had saturated the fur on the mat and actually stood above it in places. Her complexion was deathly pale, and at the contact of his hand she shimmered transparent violently. Bob searched madly for a cause, and his eyes fell on little bits of smashed plastic on the edge of the bathtub. The colors and textures where the same as Dot's hand-held razor she used to shave her legs. In a nauseous wave of realization, he saw her wrist, minced in a crosshatch of deep cuts all the way up to her elbow. The scene was horrendous. Bob covered his mouth with both hands and yelled, but there was no one to help. Dot's body grew less and less solid, until in a panic he could not stand back anymore. He dove forward and grasped her shoulders._

"Dot! Dot! Don't!" He said, almost shaking her but not daring to. But she flickered on last time and with a burst, her energy dissipated. Her black and white system icon fell on to the linoleum with a clatter. Bob stared at the place where his fiance had been and did not let himself accept it, then took off towards the diner, only pausing to put on shoes.


End file.
